In many areas, utility companies use wireless technology to facilitate automatic collection of utility use data. For example, a wireless transceiver and antenna can be coupled with a meter and the utility use data can be read using a handheld device which directly contacts the wireless transceiver coupled with the meter. As a result, the collection of billing data can be performed more quickly and reliably than when a person had to manually access the meter and record the utility use data. Alternatively, the wireless transceiver can periodically send the utility use data to, for example, a pole-mounted (e.g., a utility pole or the like) radio transceiver. The pole-mounted transceiver then sends the utility use data to a utility office using a cellular telephone connection.